An unofficial experimental blog for the Canadian Corkscrew Collectors Club

Tuesday, 8 September 2009

A New Corkscrew Book

Corkscrews by Frank and Barbara Ellis

The novice collector, like the little boy in a sweet shop, is often spoilt for choice. He/she wants an example of almost every object that he is offered for his collection, and within a few years has assembled a collection without much focus or direction. After a while dissatisfaction sets in. These ones aren’t good enough, other ones he don’t like anymore, he wants to impose a dateline on the collection, these ones aren’t old enough, and so on and so on.

For the novice collector of corkscrews, help is at hand, as Frank and Barbara Ellis have done all the homework, and laid it out in such a way that the whole range of possibilities is revealed in clear and well illustrated chapters.

The book is arranged in twelve chapters describing corkscrews by type, for example levers, self pullers and partial pullers, mechanical corkscrews and combinations. The photographs are exceptionally clear, and all in colour. The captions are very detailed and informative. The book is strongest on English corkscrews, but there are enough continental Europe and American examples to whet the appetite. Not so good if you decide you want to collect precious metal corkscrews, however, there are some lovely nutmeg grater corkscrews and silver sheathed corkscrew shown.

There are now many books on corkscrews available to collectors; recently 41 authors received the Bernard Watney Medal, for significant contributions to collecting, awarded by Mavis Watney through the auspices of the International Correspondence of Corkscrew Addicts. This book is a twenty first century book for twenty first century collectors. Part of the Crowood series for collectors now numbering twenty one, it is favourably priced at £25.